


today is our holiday

by bugitonight (pikasoos)



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Gen, Nu'est Ensemble - Freeform, Pledis Boys Ensemble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21777904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pikasoos/pseuds/bugitonight
Summary: “We’re not getting strobe lights, Minki. What would we do with them?”Jonghyun feels a headache coming on already, and worse, he knows he sounds just like his mom when his dad tries to get her to agree with his next purchase.“What we’re doing is throwing Aron hyung the best Christmas party ever, and for that, we need strobe lights.”Aka, snippets from a party plan that may or may not be for Aron
Comments: 24
Kudos: 50
Collections: N.S.S. 2019





	today is our holiday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dancingfingers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingfingers/gifts).



> To my recipient, I hope this fic is to your liking! Both your prompts had very touching subjects and I wanted to do them both justice. 
> 
> To the mods, thank you very much for holding this event and I'm sorry this is late;;

_2011_

_Planning_

Decembers in Seoul are cold, Minhyun realizes early on. It’s cold in Busan as well, but he seems to feel the chill more acutely when he’s so far away from home. 

_It’s when the homesickness feels more… more_ , Minki tells him after vocal lessons one time, his hair tucked under a beanie to hide its new blond color. He and Dongho had felt it last Christmas, and Jonghyun had dealt with it alone the year before that. _It doesn’t get better, but you slowly learn to live with it. Small sacrifices and all that_.

The announcement comes later that evening, during their break from dance practice when the majority of them are spread out on the floor. One of the staff comes in to tell them that they will be featuring in After School’s performance for one of the music festivals at the end of the year. It will be a short dance, but before that, they get to go home for Christmas.

Everyone is visibly happier after that announcement, excitedly sharing everything they want to during their five days back home. Maybe, if Minhyun had been paying a bit more attention, he would have noticed that Aron hyung hadn’t said anything, or that he had slipped out for a few minutes before they were supposed to practice again.

It's Minhyun who notices first anyway -- the way Aron seems to mope since then, how he stares at his phone during their breaks with a mixture of longing and something a bit more familiar to the rest of them: homesickness. 

That’s why the next day, he promises Junghyeon a box of her favorite sweets if she brings Aron out and keeps him distracted for the evening. His wallet is going to complain, but right now he needs everyone’s attention and brainpower. More heads are better than one anyway.

“Hyung can’t go to LA on such short notice.” Seungcheol rarely frowns, but right now his brows are knitted together, checking the notepad where Minhyun had hastily scrawled _IDEAS_. “Not only would it cost a lot, but he’d only spend one whole day there.”

“We can’t just let him stay here alone,” Doyoon adds, arms folded across his chest.

Minhyun has been wracking his brain for ideas, using his jacket (the puffy red one, the one Dongho says makes him look like a traffic light) as a pillow. “I’ve asked my parents if I could bring him along with me, I haven’t heard back from them yet. I feel like we should do more though. It’s his first Christmas in Korea.”

“We get that,” Jonghyun agrees, tapping his nails against the floor. “What about a small gathering with just us? Get him something nice to make him feel more… welcome. He’s pretty far from home.”

“You mean a party?” Minki asks, a smile making its way to his face. “A Christmas party-- with lights, and food--”

“Unless you have a secret stash of cash, let’s be realistic.” Dongho says hastily. “We’re all broke, but I want hyung to feel comfortable with us. We’re supposed to be debuting together.”

The rest of them nod their agreement, and it’s Minhyun who ends up writing their master plan while Jonghyun delegates their tasks. 

It feels nice, coming together like this. 

\-----

_Decorations_

Jonghyun is supposed to be the leader. He knows this because Jiyoung had watched their last practice like a hawk, then asked to speak to him afterwards.

“You’ve all improved,” She says, eyes boring into his and it makes Jonghyun shrink into himself. Park Jiyoung has always been a combination of intimidating and maternal to him. “I’ve been discussing with Sungsoo, and he seems to agree with me that you are the best choice for leader.”

“Me?” He looks at her nervously, because how is he supposed to lead?

“Yes, you.” She smiles at him, and he tries to smile back, but it comes out as more of a grimace.

That had been the end of the conversation, but he’s spent the past few nights agonizing over it. 

-

Jonghyun is supposed to be the leader, but trying to talk Choi Minki out of buying extravagant decorations is proving to be a difficult task.

“We’re not getting strobe lights, Minki. What would we do with them?” Jonghyun feels a headache coming on already, and worse, he knows he sounds just like his mom when his dad tries to get her to agree with his next purchase.

“What we’re doing is throwing Aron hyung the best Christmas party ever, and for that, we need strobe lights.”

“Do we even need strobe lights?”

“They give off a club feel.”

“You’ve never even been to a club!” He snaps, immediately regretting his words. The headache has turned into a full-on migraine, and he reaches up to rub tiredly at his temples. They’re not supposed to be out this late, and if they get caught, it will reach Jiyoung noona, and he can’t disappoint her, not when she trusts him enough to make him leader. He’s not ready, but he doesn’t want to disappoint anyone--

“I have some money,” Minki says quietly, patting his pockets. 

Jonghyun sighs, not really trusting himself to say anything helpful at the moment, but Minki pushes on anyway.

“We were all lonely when we got here, I know, but because he’s older, I don’t think Aron hyung allows himself to feel that way. So if we can throw him a good party and cheer him up, then I’m going to do my best to make sure it’s the best damn party on a budget.” 

He then grabs the box of lights, striding towards the counter. Jonghyun kind of wishes he had something to refute Minki’s words, but he doesn’t. 

Instead, he wanders over to the Christmas tree section, picking up one of the tabletop trees and rooting in his pockets before he looks for Minki.

Jonghyun finds Minki lining up at the counter, still clutching the box of strobe lights like its his firstborn. He taps Minki’s shoulder, holding onto the small tree in a similar fashion. 

“We can’t have a Christmas party without a tree.” He starts, pulling out his wallet. “I counted the money for decorations, and we have enough for both.” _I’m sorry for snapping at you_ , is what he wants to say, the words stuck in his throat.

Minki stares at him for a few minutes before linking Jonghyun’s arm with his and pulling him forward. “You’re ridiculous. Come on, let’s pay for these then head back. We can hide it in the closet.”

They do in fact, hide the light and the tree in the closet, but not before they hold an impromptu dance party in their room, lights flashing with Minki blasting _Poker Face_ throughout until Yusang pounds at their shared wall at three in the morning. 

Jonghyun is supposed to be the leader, but he still has much to learn. He’s lucky though, to have future bandmates who won’t hesitate to call him out on his bullshit. 

\-----

_Food_

Being a trainee entails sacrifice, Dongho learns. Trainees must sacrifice time and energy to practice, to learn, he knows that.

Trainees must also occasionally go on the instant ramyeon diet because they’re broke, and Dongho is no exception. 

Dongho is no exception, and he’s in charge of food for the party, under explicit instructions not to get just instant ramyeon. Coupled with the portion of the budget Seungcheol had given him, it’s kind of difficult to get snacks at the grocery store for eight growing teenagers, not to mention Junghyeon, Kyulkyung, and anyone who might suddenly pop in. Everyone in Pledis seems to have a radar for food.

“Burgers?” Kyulkyung pipes up, holding five sandwiches.

“How much are they?” Dongho asks, opening the envelope full of their budget. Kyulkyung checks the price, promptly putting the food back with a grimace.

“Never mind.”

“Should we get bread?”

“Oppa, what are the odds of you finishing all those breads before the day of the party?”

“... I see your point.”

“Who’s having a party?” Both of them turned around to see Yujin in front of them, her shopping cart full of food and a toilet plunger. Considering the fact that she was usually on-set for her drama, it was surprising to see her around these days.

“We are,” Dongho admits, glancing around in case anyone heard. “We’re throwing a surprise Christmas party for Aron hyung. The new American trainee?”

Yujin nods, nails tapping against the cart. “I’ve heard about him from Jungah unnie. Anyway, burgers?”

“We were looking for something within budget,” Kyulkyung says, glancing at Dongho. “The guys split the budget for decorations, presents, and food, so here we are.”

Yujin looks thoughtful for awhile, lips pursed. “What if you had some food delivered on the day itself? So you won’t have to worry about it going bad? Have some chicken and cola for the holidays. I’m not filming during Christmas week, so you can come find me before the party so I can order and pay the delivery guy.”

Wait, what?

“What--” Dongho says faintly, while Kyulkyung tries to protest. It feels odd, having such a respected senior foot their food bill. Especially considering their appetites. 

Yujin just waves her hand, reaching out to grab a pack of cheese ramyeon and adding it to her cart. From the way she sneaks it in, Dongho is fairly sure that she isn’t supposed to be eating it. “You deserve some Christmas cheer, and it’s nice of you all to make Aron feel welcome. I don’t mind, and the others would probably chip in as well. Consider it a Christmas gift from your noonas. Or unnies,” she adds, nodding to Kyulkyung. 

Being a trainee entails some sacrifices, Dongho learns. But he also learns that he is quite lucky to have seniors who look out for them in their own ways. 

\-----

_Present_

Minki is the youngest of the male trainees at the moment. He knows this, and that’s why the others seem to dote on him more despite most of them being the same age. It annoys him sometimes, especially when they pinch his cheeks and call him cute.

Perhaps the biggest non-offender of this at the moment is Aron, who still looks nervous about being left alone with any of them. Minki doesn’t take it to heart though, he knows Aron is still trying to learn the language properly and carries a pocket dictionary just in case.

That’s why Minki chooses to ask Aron to accompany him outside, pretending he wants to buy a present for his brother back home. Aron agrees easily enough, slipping the dictionary in his pocket before they head out into the cold.

It’s cheating a little, considering the fact that Minki is supposed to be in charge of finding a present for Aron. It’s just that everything is either out of budget or doesn’t seem… sincere enough for the occasion. 

“What do you feel like giving him?” Aron asks, stopping at the window of a bookstore. The books on display look new, but Minki highly doubts Aron is the type of person to read _Predictably Irrational_. Wait, is he?

“I don’t know,” Minki sighs. “I don’t want to give him _just_ anything, you know? I want him to see my sincerity.”

“Ah, so you’re the sentimental gift giver.” 

“Pretty much. My mom thinks it’s both a blessing and a curse, especially if it’s a last minute gift.”

Aron tears his eyes away from the book display, hands inside his pockets due to the cold despite wearing gloves. “Depends on what you want to say with the gift.”

 _Welcome to Korea_ , is what Minki wants to say. _We want you to feel welcome and whether you stay or not, we want you to look back on this and think: these people were great, and I enjoyed my time with them_.

“-- want to say thank you for the memories, or let’s make new ones?” Aron is saying, and it’s that one word that catches Minki’s attention.

“Memories,” He murmurs, an idea slowly forming in his head. “You know what, I think I have an idea.” 

They end up at the craft shop, buying colored papers, art materials, and a large scrapbook. 

“I hope your brother likes it,” Aron says as they head home, carrying their purchases while Minki counts his change. 

“I hope so too.”

Minki is the youngest among the male trainees, and maybe that’s why the others like to dote on him so much. That’s okay though, because he likes doting on everyone else too.  
  
  


\-----

_Party_

Aron hasn’t been in Korea for too long, but he thinks his fellow trainees, his future bandmates are a nice bunch. They’re okay, albeit a bit strange, but overall nice to hangout with during and outside practice. 

Today though, has been strange-- mostly because of said future bandmates. 

They’ve been slightly on edge, sneaking around like they have a secret to keep.

He asks Junghyeon about it one morning, who rolls her eyes at their behavior. “They think they’re being subtle, but really they’re just slightly dumb.”

“About what?” He doesn’t have a good hold of the language yet, but he’s pretty sure she called them dumb. Sarcasm goes over in any language. 

“You’ll see soon enough.” She pats his shoulder before she goes off to study, almost like she’s the adult in this situation and not twelve. “Don’t think about it too much though, you didn’t do anything.”

-

Of all the theories Aron has about everyone’s odd behavior, a surprise party isn’t one of them. He’s too new, too green, and he can barely understand enough Korean to have coherent thoughts in the language. That’s why he nearly drops the water bottles he had been tasked to fetch as soon as he enters the practice room.

There’s a strobe light lit up in the center of the room-- red, blue, and green lights pulsating all over the room. A small Christmas tree is placed on the table, slightly bent as if someone had thrown a coat over it. Also, food-- boxes of chicken and Chinese food, and it feels much too long since Aron’s had some moo shu pork. 

The best part of all are the rest of his friends, all decked in ridiculous Santa hats. Dongho even has a fake white beard.

“Surprise!” Minki yells out, and Aron finally steps inside the room, closing the door in case the noise gets out. Mariah Carey isn’t noise, but still-- they’re in a building, for Pete’s sake. 

Jonghyun puts a Santa hat on him, and even Minhyun hands him a fake beard. It’s pretty cool. But also, their odd behavior does make more sense now.

“Junghyeon was right,” He says, clutching a paper cup Dongho had given him. “You all fail at being subtle.”

“Yes, yes, Junghyeon is a devious mastermind who could take over the world if she wanted to--” Minki says wryly, handing him a wrapped package. “Plain or yangnyeom?”

It’s only much later, when they’re back at the dorms and tucked into their beds that Aron opens the package Minki had given him. The card that comes with it is signed by everyone, from Dongho’s messy scrawl to Jonghyun’s doodle (he’s not quite sure if it’s a turtle or a snail, a great artist Jonghyun is not).

He manages to get the wrapping paper off to reveal a plain brown scrapbook-- the same scrapbook he had seen Minki buying days earlier. He fights a sneeze when some glitter falls out of the scrapbook, a small smile making its way onto his face once he sees what’s in the scrapbook.

There’s a picture of all the Pledis Boys on the first page: the eight of them goofing off after a particularly grueling practice. The next one is of him, Jonghyun, Baekho, Minhyun, and Minki-- pointing at the others who are asleep on the couch while they filmed Happy Pledis a few days ago. Pictures and small notes from everyone fill the scrapbook, ranging from little Junghyeon to even the intimidating Jiyoung noona. It’s a bit overwhelming, seeing so many messages from people he’s only met months ago. Him, the newest trainee who still fumbles with the language. 

It makes him feel less like an outsider, and maybe, just maybe-- he could also find a home here.

\-----

_2019_

“A little help?” Aron wheezes as he struggles to close a box filled with books. Minki immediately goes over to fling himself on it, expression one of surprise when the box doesn’t close. Aron’s very sure one of the corners from the hardbound covers nicked him in the butt.

“Damn it.”

“That’s usually what you do for luggage, Minki. Not cardboard boxes.” Dongho heads back inside, arms now empty of boxes. “How many more to carry?”

“Well in that case, we’ll need another box. How much stuff do you even have, hyung?”

Minhyun looks up from where he’s aggressively folding Aron’s shirts, keeping them out of Noah and Kkotsooni’s reach. Thankfully, the dogs are too busy watching Jonghyun sort the rest of Aron’s belongings into _keep_ , _maybe_ , and _throw the thing away_ , all written in Minki’s handwriting. “Come on, you can accumulate a lot of things in seven years.”

“Like a straw hat,” Jonghyun pipes up, placing said hat on his head. “What did you even use this for?”

“I like how it looks--” Aron grimaces because yes, maybe he does have way too much stuff. “You can keep it if you want.”

Jonghyun looks satisfied with the hat, playfully shoving Minhyun when he teases him about _“living his Monkey D. Luffy dreams”_. It’s noisy, and it’s almost like they’re back in 2013, bickering back and forth before they head off to practice or school.

It’s something that Aron will miss once he’s settled in at his new place-- having the others within reach so he doesn’t have to worry about them. He knows they’re not too far away: Jonghyun and Minki are still attached at the hip in this dorm, Dongho will continue to spend nights in the recording studio, and they visit Minhyun often enough that he still grumbles about cleaning up after them.

Still, it feels different. Compared to eight years ago, they _are_ different. No longer worried about fighting to stay together, or worrying about someone who goes home because they aren’t sure if that person will come back. 

They can all breathe much easier knowing that they still have many years together, as a group and as friends.

Aron is snapped out of his thoughts when Dongho holds up a scrapbook, leafing through it with surprise. “Isn’t this the scrapbook we gave you for your first Christmas in Korea?”

Everyone immediately crowds around him, shocked that the scrapbook was still in one piece. Everyone except Aron, that is.

“Yeah, just put it in the _keep_ pile.” He shrugs nonchalantly. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I loved it.”

“That was eight years ago--” Aron is very sure that’s Minki, and he sounds a little choked up. He had come up with the idea and put it together, after all.

“I still mean it.” Aron rolls his eyes, putting a few more belongings (when did he get a lava lamp?) in another box. “This is enough packing for today. Should we get pizza? I’ll pay for it.”

The promise of free food is what gets the four of them out, and even his pets trail after them. The scrapbook rests on top of the _keep_ pile, but Aron immediately picks it up, placing it in his carry-on backpack. He doesn’t want any harm coming to it.

Call him sentimental, but it’s one of his favorite gifts from some of his favorite people, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> 12/27/2019: Now that reveals are out, hello! Come say [hi](https://twitter.com/ongthecontrary)


End file.
